Lawrence.com

Since 1997, the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee has served the local film community in two important ways. For one, it provides local filmmakers an outlet for their work. But the Jubilee also has given Kansas City moviegoers a wider variety of flicks to watch and has even brought the people who made those films to town.

Jubilee 2001, which runs from Wednesday, April 4, through Sunday, April 9, offers dozens of movies, some of them locally made and some of them fresh from Sundance. In fact, Kansas City audiences have the rare opportunity to see portions of "Waking Life," the newest movie from Richard Linklater ("Slacker" and "Dazed and Confused") before it plays other towns. It combines animation with digital video technology, and the film's executive producer John Sloss (who also was behind "Lone Star") and animation director Bob Sabistion will be on hand to present it.

Other highlights include "The Burning Man," made by KU film school alumnus Alex Nohe, and the directorial debut of Robert Altman's grandson Dana Altman, "The Private Public." The event also will feature a seminar with Aardman Studios cinematographer Dave Alex Riddett, who has worked on some of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit shorts and the studio's hit feature "Chicken Run."

Also included is the locally made 11-minute adaptation of James Ellroy's "Killer on the Road," titled "Stay Clean," which was covered in the March 1 issue of The Mag. According to Edward Stencel, the Jubilee's vice president, "People are interested in coming to Kansas City because it's real. It's not corrupted by corporate America. I think there's a lot of people like Linklater who know what's going on in Kansas City, and that there's people trying to support independent film. There needs to be these type of movements around the country to keep the true independent film world going."

Some of the previous filmmakers involved had been friends of Stencel's, but now he says, "We've got an established record so we can bring in people who don't have direct contact with us. We can bring them in, they see what we're doing, and they really enjoy it."

Local boy makes fire

Nohe's "The Burning Man" is a documentary about an annual event where the participants converge in the desert of Northern Nevada to temporarily abandon commercial culture (attendees are not allowed to buy or sell things) and engage in all sorts of wild behavior. For example, some of the stills for the film feature nude cyclists sporting painted bodies.

"I heard about (the Burning Man event) from people who lived in Southern California who really couldn't describe it," Nohe says. "Somebody would say something like, 'Isn't that where the Deadheads go to mourn the loss of Jerry Garcia?' There was this photo essay in Wired that has these terrifying, compelling and beautiful photos. I showed it to my girlfriend, and in 12 seconds we decided to go."

"The Burning Man: The Burning Sensation" made its debut at last year's Santa Barbara Film Festival and will open on June 1 in Los Angeles and New York. Nonetheless, Nohe is happy to give local audiences a peek at the film. A Kansas City native who grew up in Topeka, Nohe says from his home in California, "I'd hoped to come back. It was a dream of mine. It got accepted, and I was really excited."

He's especially pleased to be part of a festival that's featuring a Linklater movie.

"Back at KU, my big inspirations were ("Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" director) Jim Jarmusch, and (Linklater's) 'Slacker' had just hit. I met him when I was a film student when he was speaking at South by Southwest (Film Festival). It's a big thrill now to know that I'm going to be alongside of him."

Nohe also is quick to cite the work of another Kansas-bred filmmaker.

"My other big inspiration was (the late Lawrence director) Herk Harvey," he says. "When I was 17, I drove up from Topeka with a friend of mine. That was a big road trip for us at the time. SUA was screening (Harvey's) 'Carnival of Souls.' We hadn't heard of it and didn't know anything about it. We went in, and it was just amazing. Over the years, I've grown to love it more and more."

As for his opinion of his own flick, Nohe states, "I don't know if it's good. Some people really, really like it. Some people don't. It will definitely touch a nerve, and I swear at least one time in the movie, you'll say, 'wow' simply because 'Burning Man' is like nothing you've ever seen before."

A $50 view

At one point, Nohe jokes, "When I shot 'The Burning Man,' I wanted to make it the cheapest film of all time, which did not happen at all." Another KU graduate, John McGrath, may have accomplished that.

"Parallax," the short film that he and his co-director Todd Norris have made, got into the festival despite a budget that McGrath estimates at $50. A former cameraman for KSHB-TV in Kansas City, McGrath recalls, 'I had a short I made for $6,000, but it's this one that everybody seems to like. One of the things working on 'Parallax' has taught me is that you get wrapped up in how much you're spending on it or whether you're shooting it on Beta S.P. or film, you can forget that the story is what matters the most, and the money part is secondary. The $50 was for two yellow shirts, a vase and an Escher painting (in the opening credits)."

The story behind "Parallax" sometimes seems like an M.C. Escher drawing brought to life. Through split screen images, the audience discovers that an intruder and the resident of a home are the same person (played by Norris).

"I'm shooting it. Todd's the actor. Filmmaking is such a collaborative art. Before when I'd do a film, I'd shoot it, I'd cast it, I'd light. That hurts the film because you're spreading yourself too thin. When Todd and I came together, it freed both of us up," McGrath says.

Despite being placed in such august company as Linklater, McGrath promises viewers, "I'll stack Todd and my film against anybody's because it's a smart short. It's not about fart jokes. It's an intelligent thriller. I'm glad that 'Parallax' got in because this isn't some flunky little festival. This is a big deal."

Wednesday, April 4

7:30 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas, Manor Square, 4050 Pa.

Opening Night � Kansas City Filmmaker Premieres:

� "Intersection"

� "Be It Ever So Humble, There's No Place"

� "Guardians of the Book"

� "A Better Mousetrap"

� "James Ellroy's Stay Clean"

� "Baptized at the Lucky Lube"

� "The Good Things"

Thursday, April 5

5 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Award-winning TV programming:

� "Uniquely Kansas City" � KCPT19

� "Kansas City Crossroads" � KSHB 41

� "Rare Visions and Roadside Rarities" � KCTV19

7:30 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Competition Short Films/Short Stories:

� "W.A.H.M.O"

� "The Keys Are in the Car"

� "Parallax"

� "John: One Way"

� "President Steve Elvis America � Terrible Cosmic Death"

� "The Confession"

� "Robots"

� "Tex, the Passive Aggressive Gunslinger"

� "Lint People"

� "Stanley"

� "Talk To You Later"

� "Big Canyon"

Friday, April 6

9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. � UMKC University Center, Room 106

Academic Film Conference:

9:30 a.m. � Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way Keynote Speaker: Lary May

11 a.m.-Noon/Student presentations on film theory and history

1 p.m.-4 p.m./Student presentations on film theory and history

5 p.m. � Atkins Auditorium, Nelson�Atkins Museum of Art

Screening & Seminar � Austin Texas Animation:

Bob Sabiston, Flat Black Productions

� "Project Incognito," "Roadhead," "Snack and Drink," "Figures of Speech" and scenes from "Waking Life"

7 p.m. � Atkins Auditorium

Screening � Feature: "Benjamin Smoke "

Filmmaker � Peter Sillen

7 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Feature: "Bruce Lee � A Warrior's Journey"

Filmmaker � John Little

9:30 p.m. � Dirt Gallery, 1323 Union, KCMO (West Bottoms)

Screening � Kansas City Underground:

� "Dance 5000"

� "Leona"

� "The Keys Are in the Car"

� "Blue in Green"

� "Box Stick Hole"

� "Me Shel: Dog Sitting"

� "Family Production Values"

� "High Score"

� "Recipe for Botulism"

� "Eating Crap"

� "The Interview"

� "Faith & Betrayal"

� "Band � Snakebite Orphans will be playing"

9:30 p.m. � Science City, Union Station � Extreme Screen

Screening � Feature: "Before Sunrise"

Executive Producer � John Sloss

Cinematographer � Lee Daniel

Saturday, April 7

9 a.m. � UMKC, University Center, Room 106

Screening & Seminar � Rabbits, Remus and Race: Considering Walt Disney's Song of the South

Michael Sweeny, Dr. Gregory Black, Dr. Tom Poe, Mitch Brian, Kevin Willmott and Dr. Lary May

10 a.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Competition Short Films � Experimental:

� "Leona"

� "Haptic Nerve"

� "Bailar"

� "Pleasureland"

� "Three Lives of Kate"

� "Helicopter"

Noon � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � "Evolution of British Animation"

BolexBrothers � Dave Borthwick

Aardman Animation � Dave Alex Riddett

2 p.m. � City Stage, Science City

Seminar � British Animation

BolexBrothers � Dave Borthwick

Aardman Animation � Dave Alex Riddett

2 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Competition shorts � The Classics:

� "Screw Your Courage"

� "The Internationale"

� "Speed for Thespians"

4 p.m. � Science City

Demo � Animation Software

Alias/Wavefront � Maya

NewTek � Lightwave

4 p.m. � Westport Coffeehouse, 4010 Pa

Seminar � Directing the Short Film

Seth Wiley, Mitch Brian, Dave Hodes, Tony Ladesich, Peter Sillen and Andy Anderson,

5 p.m. � Westport Coffeehouse

Seminar � How to Get Your Film Seen: Festivals and Marketing

Alex Nohe, Steve Montal and Andy Anderson

6 p.m. � Westport Coffeehouse

Seminar � Financial, Legal and Distribution Aspects of Filmmaking John Sloss

7 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Presented by Independent Film Channel

Screening � Feature: "Our Song"

Filmmaker � Jim McKay

9:30 p.m. � Extreme Screen � Science City

Screening � Feature: "The Burning Man � The Burning Sensation"

Filmmaker � Alex Nohe

Sunday, April 8

10 a.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Competition Short Films � Youth & Low Budget:

� "Portraits in Moonlight & Sunlight"

� "Day with John"

� "Drifters Depart"

� "The Emperor's New Clothes"

� "Family Production Values"

� "Prologue"

� "Two Ships in the Day"

� "A Piano Thing"

� "Rejected"

12 p.m. � Tivoli Cinemas

Screening � Feature: "The Private Public"

Filmmaker � Dana Altman

2 p.m. � Tivol Cinemas

Screening � Competition Short Films � Dance/Music/Visual:

� "Tango Kansas City: An Experiment in Dance, Music"

� "Drumba"

� "I Will Dance (So High)"

� "Bug Bar Rhapsody"

� "Killing Time"

� "Pershing"

� "I See the Field"

� "Visualization"

� "Be Careful What You Wish For"

� "A Film By . . ."

� "How Do You Feel"

� "Luce. Tempo. Roma"

� "Boing"

� "Observations in Holland: Best in Beef"

4 p.m. � Classic Cup Westport, 4010 Pa.

Jubilee Awards � Hosted by UMKC, KCAI & MO Film Commission

Master of Ceremonies: T. Max Graham

Jubilee Celebration Award

KC Metro Winning Film Awards